Sitges

From the old-town seafront, curl left around the rocky promontory beneath the white church — a 7-minute walk along Passeig de Vilafranca with the Mediterranean opening up on your right. Sant Sebastià is the locals' beach, smaller and quieter than the showy Passeig de la Ribera stretch, with the church looming directly above you for the postcard shot. Continue east along the cliffside Camí de Ronda toward Aiguadolç marina to clock the day's first real kilometres while the sun is still kind.

Tip: Walk to the rocks at the very east end of Sant Sebastià Beach and turn back west — this is the only angle where you get the church, the bell tower and the open sea in a single frame, with morning sun lighting the facade. Most visitors stay on the Passeig side and never see it.

Loop back around La Punta to the old town — 10 minutes along Carrer de Sant Pau, the spine of Sitges' food street. El Pou is a tiny tapas counter where the chef has won the regional best-tapa prize for his mini Wagyu burger. Lunch here is built for speed: order at the bar, eat in under an hour, back on the road.

Tip: Order the mini Wagyu burger with mustard mayo (3.80€) and the bomba de patata explosiva (3.20€) — that's the whole order, do not over-fill. Arrive by 13:30 sharp; from 14:00 the wait turns into 40 minutes and they stop seating at 15:30.

Leave El Pou, cross one block south to Passeig de la Ribera and head west — the sea on your left, a parade of Modernist buildings on your right. You'll pass Casa Pere Carreras, the gabled Casa Manuel Planas, and the long sweep of Bassa Rodona, Estanyol and Riera Xica beaches before Passeig Marítim quiets into the residential Terramar stretch. Afternoon is when the Mediterranean turns its strongest blue and the white facades glow against it — this is the 17-beaches feeling Sitges sells, and you walk it end to end.

Tip: Turn around at the pink-domed Hotel Estela Barcelona (the unofficial west end of the Passeig) — anything past Terramar is suburban road, not seafront. On the walk back, cross to the beach side at Bassa Rodona for the cleanest reverse view of the church on its rock.

Stop walking near La Fragata on Passeig de la Ribera — the white church on its rocky outcrop is now lit edge-on by the setting sun, the Mediterranean turning copper behind it. This is the photo Sitges puts on every postcard, and it only works in the last 40 minutes before sunset, from this western angle. Climb the steps up to the Mirador del Baluard beside the church for the high-angle shot back over the bay once the sky starts burning.

Tip: Sunset in summer falls around 21:00 — arrive at Passeig de la Ribera by 20:15 to claim a spot on the low seawall before the photographers stack three-deep. Skip the horse-drawn carriages waiting by the church; they charge tourists 60€ for a 10-minute loop and the route shows you nothing you haven't already walked.

Walk three minutes inland from the church up Carrer de Sant Pau — La Salseta sits on the same street as lunch, but this is a proper sit-down where Sitges families eat. The kitchen runs slow Catalan classics with whatever the morning's boats brought in, and the dining room glows under low lamps once the sun is fully down. After a 17-kilometre day, this is the meal you sit through, not rush.

Tip: Order the arròs negre amb sípia (squid-ink rice, 22€) — it needs 25 minutes from the kitchen so ask for it the moment you sit. Reserve the same morning via their website; walk-ins after 21:00 are turned away every Friday and Saturday in summer. Tourist-trap warning: skip the chalk-board 'paella + sangria 18€' restaurants along Passeig de la Ribera — frozen rice, tetra-pak wine, and they're the reason locals eat one street back.